Liz was bored. It wasn't to the point where she'd be begging the dockworkers to help blast barnacles but it was getting there. She sighed. "I'm bored." "Read." That was Victoria's ever stoic reply even as she continued to read through her magazine, the cover of which being something that Liz knew Mary would never let her see. Liz shot her a glare. "I've already done all my studies for this week and the next two beyond." She replied. "Study some more. Your history's been lacking as of late." "Reading's boring. I wanna have some fun!" Liz whined. "Good luck with that." And the older ship turned back to her magazine.
Liz pouted for a few minutes before her eyes sparkled with an idea. A brilliant idea. So simple she was surprised she hadn't thought of it before. She backed out of her berth carefully, using precision timing with her pods and thrusters. She snuck up behind Victoria. The older ship was so engrossed in her inappropriate for children magazine that she never heard Liz approaching.
"TAG!" Liz leaped back out of the way as Victoria squealed, backing completely out of her berth at the sudden fright. "Goodness me!" She cried. "Couldn't you have provided some warning?" "Nope!" Liz giggled. "It's tag!" "And I'm it is that it?" Victoria asked, stifling a sigh. "I swear she's like a shipling!" Her eyes took on a mischevious glint. "Ah, a little fun can't hurt anyone." Liz nodded. "Yep! Come and catch me!" She waggled her stern as she raced off in a shower of spray. "Cheeky lass!" Victoria laughed and gave chase.
Seeing Victoria following her, Liz increased her speed giving a startled eep as she realized how close the stealthy big ship had gotten. She knew she couldn't outrun her for long. Victoria was slightly faster than her. So she looked around for places to hide. Ah, there near the river junction was a construction depot. Drydocks, cranes, stacks upon stakes of crates. It was a perfect place to hide! She changed course, hull groaning at the sudden motion at such speed. But the grin never left her face as she cruised right in, taking up a hiding position between some massive steel beams. She was perfectly visible though and Victoria had no trouble spotting her. Still though the older ship decided to have some fun before she caught her prey. "Where or where has my dear Liz gone. Oh where or where can she be?!" She sang. In her hidden corner, Liz giggled unable to stifle it. Victoria continued to head in her direction but she sailed past and for a second Liz thought that Victoria had missed her. Then... "TAG YOUR IT!" Victoria poked her bow in, getting the younger ship right square in the side.
"Eeep!" Liz squealed in fright, startled by Victoria's sudden action. The younger liner bounced straight up right into one of the cranes as it was in the midst of lifting a several ton steel beam. A chain reaction followed. The crane wobbled on its foundation and began to fall. Time seemed to slow down after that. Liz, too frozen in fear to do anything other than watch, saw just a blur of black in the corner of her vision moments before something slammed hard into her side, sending her clear of the falling debris. One beam struck across her stern, its weight coupled with that of all the other large ones holding her effectively in place. Once the spray had settled, Liz looked around for her fleet mate.
"Victoria?" She asked. "I'm here." came the reply. "Where are you?" "Behind you but I-I'm stuck." Liz whimpered. "So am I." She replied. "Beam's got me by the stern." "Hang on, I might be able to reach you." There was the sound of shifting, beams groaning under the strain. The one holding Liz rolled off allowing the young ship to steer free. The beams resettled in a series of loud crashes. Once the splashing died down again, Liz was able to see the extent of the devastation. "Victoria..." Her fleetmate was trapped in the center of it, with three beams lying square across her deck, their ends held down by the masses on top of them. One of her eyes was closed, already blackened with bruising. Blood streaked her hull on both sides with a trickle of it running from her nose and mouth. And, much to Liz's horror, she could see at least one beam had pierced through her deck.
"Victoria, can you move?" She asked. "No, steering's disabled." Victoria replied after a moment of struggling. Moving seemed to hurt her as she winced and ceased her struggles. "You're free now. Go and find help. We'll need at least 2 big crane ships to lift this stuff off me." Liz was tempted. Oh she was sorely tempted. She wanted nothing more than to escape, run away from the horrible image Victoria's battered state displayed to her. But on the other prop, this was her fleetmate... She shook her head. "No, 'm staying here." She moved as close as she could, being cautious not to get stuck herself again. "I can move some of these." She said, reaching up to get at one. "No, not that one!" Victoria cried. "It'll bring the whole stack down on me."
Liz nodded and dutifully began following Victoria's instructions. She got most of the stack off but the rest would have to be done by crane ships. Looking at her fleetmate's injuries, Liz knew she'd have to distract her. "Someone's having a carnival nearby. I smell cotton candy." Victoria saw right through her guise. "That bad?" She asked. Liz shot her a look. "Do you really want to know?" "No, suppose not." She sighed. "First flagship?" Liz's answer was immediate. "Britannia." "Who was "Great Babe"?" "Great Eastern. Brunnel gave her that nickname." "Last White Star flagship?" "Oceanic, 1945." Victoria grinned. "You have been studying. I'm impressed." "Told ya!" Liz's grin was somewhat smug but she'd earned the right. "Who held the Riband for the longest time?" Victoria's voice was weaker than before.
"The first Mauretania, for 22 years." Liz's grin vanished as she noticed Victoria's weakness. "Victoria?" "I'm alright." "No, you're not. You took 2 beams through the deck for Ancient's sake!" Victoria mustered a glare, albeit a weak one but it was enough to lift Liz' spirits somewhat. "Do not swear!" "Knew that would get you going!" came the cheerful and completely unrepentant reply. Victoria sighed. "You're such a child." She scolded but the grin on her face said she was far from mad.
The craneboats arrived and began moving the rest of the debris off Victoria. Liz whimpered as she watched her friend's pain. "I'm sorry, this was my fault." "'Twas an accident." Victoria offered the equivalence of a shrug. With her steering still disabled she had to be towed to a drydock. Liz offered for the job. She offered Victoria the towline. "Come on, just a little longer then you can rest." Too weak now to offer a reply, Victoria just stared at the line. "Take it. Bite it. I'll take care of the rest." Liz begged. Victoria sighed and took the thick hawser in her mouth, allowing Liz to tow her down river to the drydock. The tugs took care of the more intricate maneuvers required to get the big liner in.
Liz remained alongside, receiving her own minor repairs. A week into it, Mary arrived. "I'm sorry, it was my fault!" Liz began. Mary shushed her. "It was an accident Liz and I'm sure Victoria told you as much." She replied and Liz nodded. "Okay, now give me a smile." Liz offered her a small one. "That's better." Mary licked her cheek causing Liz to blush a violent shade of red. Liz leaned into her, grateful for her presence but also just as glad that Mary didn't blame her for the mishap.
Victoria remained under serum for several weeks before she was repaired enough to be brought back around. She still needed time to heal but was declared fit enough to do so in her own berth. Once free of the drydock, she gave Mary the biggest shit-eating grin the flagship had seen from her. "Not dead yet?" "Please, if a landslide of steel beams can't kill me, what can?" Victoria replied. Mary laughed. "You gave me a few gray hairs, shame on you missy!" She scolded. "Why should I be sorry? Gray is more distinguishable." Victoria replied cockily. "Oh you!" Mary headbutted her affectionately. "How's Liz?" Victoria asked. "She's fine. A bit shaken up but otherwise okay. I sent her off to prepare the berth for you." Mary replied. "With all the amenities for a doting pair of fleetmates at the ready I imagine." Victoria replied. "At your service madam." Mary replied with a mock bow. Victoria rolled her eyes. "You're impossible." She said. "I know. That's why you love me." Mary replied. Ah it was good to put aside the flagship mantle and just be silly sisters. Victoria chuckled. "Against my better judgement sometimes." She agreed. "Hey now, who's been your one and only phone call from the drydock?" And the two continued their banter from there. Continued it all the way up to Liz.
The youngest ship was unusually subdued. She'd heard the talk on the way in. At least Mary and Victoria were getting along but she still blamed herself. Victoria nudged her. "Hey kiddo. Thank you." Liz looked up at her in surprise. "For what?" She asked. Victoria shrugged. "Back there you were helping keep me awake. Without you, I don't think I would've made it. You gave me something to fight for. So thank you." "Both of us thank you." Mary echoed with a dip of her prow. Getting a salute from her flagship left Liz flustered and all she could do was stammer. "O-of course. Never leave a fleetmate behind." The three shared grins. Then Liz's mischievous streak returned. She held up a magazine, the same that Victoria was reading from earlier. "Found this in your stuff and I had a question for you Victoria?" Mary felt her blood start to boil at seeing the cover. If her sister was reading that garbage in Liz's presence... Oblivious to her sister's predicament and feeling like it was against her better judgement, Victoria shrugged and replied "Shoot." "That article about that couple with the eight kids. How does one produce so many in the first place?" Liz asked. Mary's right eye twitched as her blood pressure rose to dangerous levels. "MS QUEEN VICTORIA YOU DARE READ SUCH THINGS IN LIZ'S PRESENCE?!" She roared. "It's not like she wouldn't find out someday anyways! Innocence can't last forever you know!" Victoria cried. And the situation deteriorated from there. Liz, smirking to herself, quietly slipped away to her own berth. "And my work here is done." She cackled.